Taylor, NG orcid.org/0000-0002-8643-826X and Dunn, AM orcid.org/0000-0002-4855-1077 (2017) Size matters: predation of fish eggs and larvae by native and invasive amphipods. Biological Invasions, 19 (1). pp. 89-107. ISSN 1387-3547
Abstract
Invasive predators can have dramatic impacts on invaded communities. Extreme declines in macroinvertebrate populations often follow killer shrimp (Dikerogammarus villosus) invasions. There are concerns over similar impacts on fish through predation of eggs and larvae, but these remain poorly quantified. We compare the predatory impact of invasive and native amphipods (D. villosus and Gammarus pulex) on fish eggs and larvae (ghost carp Cyprinus carpio and brown trout Salmo trutta) in the laboratory. We use size-matched amphipods, as well as larger D. villosus reflecting natural sizes. We quantify functional responses, and electivity amongst eggs or larvae and alternative food items (invertebrate, plant and decaying leaf). D. villosus, especially large individuals, were more likely than G. pulex to kill trout larvae. However, the magnitude of predation was low (seldom more than one larva killed over 48 hours). Trout eggs were very rarely killed. In contrast, carp eggs and larvae were readily killed and consumed by all amphipod groups. Large D. villosus had maximum feeding rates 1.6 to 2.0 times higher than the smaller amphipods, whose functional responses did not differ. In electivity experiments with carp eggs, large D. villosus consumed the most eggs and the most food in total. However, in experiments with larvae, consumption did not differ between amphipod groups. Overall, our data suggest D. villosus will have a greater predatory impact on fish populations than G. pulex, primarily due to its larger size. Higher invader abundance could amplify this difference. The additional predatory pressure could reduce recruitment into fish populations.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © The Author(s) 2016. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. |
Keywords: | Dikerogammarus; predatory functional response; invasive species; impact; body size |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Biological Sciences (Leeds) > School of Biology (Leeds) |
Funding Information: | Funder Grant number NERC NE/G015201/1 |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 06 Sep 2016 09:50 |
Last Modified: | 23 Jun 2023 22:12 |
Published Version: | https://doi.org/10.1007/s10530-016-1265-4 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Springer Verlag |
Identification Number: | 10.1007/s10530-016-1265-4 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:104252 |